Blue by Danielle Steel Page A

it on the trunk in front of him, covered him with the blanket, and turned off the light. Then she went back to her bedroom and closed the door, and read until midnight. She thought about what Becky had said to her, and she knew they were convinced she was crazy for taking Blue in, but it felt right to her for now, at this moment. She would figure it out later. She wanted to convince him to contact his aunt, and let her know he was okay. And then she wanted to get him into a good shelter where they could help him. For now, he was her mission. And by the time she left again, she wanted to know he was in good hands. She was convinced there was a reason their paths had crossed, and she was sure that was it. She was meant to get him to safe harbor, and she vowed to herself that she would. She turned off the light, and two minutes later she was sound asleep.
    —
    While Ginny cooked Blue breakfast the next day, he went on the Internet again and logged onto various sites. She noticed him on several youth and homeless sites again, where people posted messages for each other. And she saw him frowning as he read one of them more carefully than the others. As she set his plate of scrambled eggs down next to the computer, she saw that it was from someone named Charlene, who was asking him to call her, and it was obviously his aunt, since he had mentioned her name. Ginny looked at the site carefully without seeming to, so she could get back to it if he went out. Ginny wanted to contact her to learn more about Blue, and figure out what to do with him when she left New York.
    She said something to Blue after breakfast about where he was going to stay in the future.
    “You can’t go back to the shed, Blue. It’s too cold. And sooner or later someone from the city will lock it up again.”
    “There are other places I can stay,” he said, jutting out his chin defiantly. Then he looked at her and the expression in his eyes grew soft. “Not as nice as this, though.”
    “You can stay with me as long as I’m here,” she said generously. She didn’t realize how agonizingly lonely she had been before he arrived. Now she knew. “But I have to go back to work next month, and I’ll be gone for a while. Let’s find a good place for you to stay before I go.”
    “Not a shelter,” he said, looking stubborn again.
    “There are long-term places for homeless kids. Some of them sound pretty good—you can come and go as you want.” She had been checking them out on the Internet. It wouldn’t be an ideal situation, but it would afford him shelter, a place to stay, meals, counseling, and job placement if he wanted that. But he wasn’t really old enough to work.
    “You just get ripped off in shelters, and most of the kids are on drugs.” She could tell that he wasn’t, which was remarkable given his hard life.
    “Well, we’ll have to figure something out. I can’t take you with me.” It was as though she had adopted him, and was determined to solve his housing situation, when in fact he was a fragile bird who had come to light on her branch, and was perched next to her for now. But he had no choice but to fly away again when she did, and she wanted him to be safe after she left.
    “I just want a room somewhere and a job,” he said. It was a tall order for a boy his age, no matter how bright he was. No one hired eleven- or twelve-year-old boys, except as drug runners in bad neighborhoods, and Blue seemed to have stayed clear of that.
    “How old are you, Blue? Honestly this time,” she said with a serious expression, and he didn’t answer for a while, clearly deciding whether or not to tell her the truth. And then finally he spoke up.
    “I’m thirteen,” he growled at her, “but I can do a lot of stuff, I’m good on the computer, and I’m strong.” He was slight from lack of food, but he was willing.
    “When was the last time you were in school?” She was afraid it might be years.
    “September. I’m in eighth